So close but yet so far was the unfortunate result for the Guyana national basketball team which lost to the Washington DC Jammers in a nail-biting encounter at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) Saturday evening when the National Community Basketball League (NCBL) tipped off its first International All-Star Weekend.
Highly entertaining and probably more competitive than the almost packed CASH crowd would have thought, Guyana came out playing like a team possessed with seemingly only one aim which saw them leading at the end of the first quarter.
Ryan Gullen, who kept the home team alive in the first quarter, went cold in the second which saw the Dc Jammers taking over the lead especially when Steffon Farley crowned two Guyanese defenders with a thunderous two handed dunk.
However, Akeem ‘The Dream’ Kanhai went on a six-point scoring spree that ignited a run for the home side which saw them going into the break with a four point lead 28-24.
In the third quarter it was more apparent that the size of the Jammers were starting to get to the national side as a number of shots were rejected.
The Americans began to step up their game especially when Joseph Flegger started calling plays and being more of the floor general for the visitors while Travis ‘The Blur” Burnette was equally a pest with his quickness and activity on the defenses side of the ball.
With the lead changing sides in the fourth quarter, Glen Stokes came in and buried a number of three pointers that seemed to be the game changing run.
However, the ever resilient Guyanese side, down by six points with less than two minutes to go the locals hit a trey that cut the lead to three before Burnett picked up an inbound pass and fed Kanhai for the basket to bring the game to within one with 1:27s left.
Flegler then spoiled the Guyanese comeback with an easy fade away baseline jumper to carry the Jammers up three which eventually won the game and saw the final score at 65-62 in favour of the away team.
Stokes and Flegler led the way for the Jammers with 20 and 18 points respectively to walk away with the nail biting win while Gullen and Burnett had 14 and 13 points respectively for the home side in the loss.
In the supporting game, the NCBL All Star team blew away the Brooklyn Bulldogs earlier in the evening 92-47 to spoil the return of the overseas based Guyanese that played for the Bulldogs.
The defense of the local Guyanese side was simply phenomenal as the Bulldogs players found it tough to penetrate the lanes along with creating space for open looks at the basket.
However, the Bulldogs efficiency from the field was also a let down from the overseas based players as their limited open looks most times counted for nothing as they shot a number of bricks.
Travis Foster scored a game high 21 points for the locals who scored most of their shots at the rim using their speed and youth to undo the Bulldogs. Fabian Johnson and Jason Squires chipped in with 17 and 14 points respectfully for the NCBL All Stars.
Marlon Thornton, who also happens to be the nephew of Kwame mentor one of the organizers of the tournament was the only meaningful scorer for the Bulldogs as they battled a losing cause.
